Staff-gun and projectile therefor.



C. F. WICKER.

STAFF GUN AND PROJECTILE THEREroR.

APPLICATION FILED AUGJT' i915.

Patented Sept. 12, 1916.

lleve/@fors y/'zsi Wie/2er.

TED sTATEs PATENT 'oEEroE.-

mus I'. wIcIrEE, or WASHINGTON, DISTRICT or coIa'ninsrA.`

sTAE-GUN AND PEOJECTILE THEEEFOE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

.Application led August 17, 1915. Serial No. 46,009. L

4 ades and shrapnel or bombs that are thrown onlyr short distances, in most cases by hand, the necessity for a compact portable device Y for relieving .the soldier of this tiresome task has arisen and the present invention is the result, thereof.

With this and otherobjects in view, the

linvention consists in the combination, ar-

rangement and construction of parts hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims, it being understood that I do not intend to limit myself'to the details of construction of the. various parts.

The invention is illustrated in the' accompanying drawing in which- Figure 1 shows a perspective view of the device in ring position. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the upper end of the supporting member of stat with the projectile in ring position thereon. Fig. 3 is a sectional" view showing a detail. Fig. 4 is a Side elevation of my improved ment. y

In' the drawings, 4 indicates a staff or the.

ring ele- -gun of my device, which is preferably made of metal of uniform diameter` and *i made of sueh'a size that one may be carried f by each soldier.'v It is pointed at one end 5 which end is adapted to penetrate the groundv 6 and pivoted collar ."7` having a sharpened Vflange 8 is provided on the stai 4 which' resist recoil ofthe explosions.v

At'theupper end,fthestai ishollowed out". as at 9'so Vthat a ringelement 10 may "be placed` therein' which will -`Ahave a* trigger mechanism w115A and v`va 12 -co-acting therewith.;V l: do' not dSle o limited to the -interiorlocation of lthe j g in echfinsinV ynor-fito;` they' particular trigger mechanism. The element-consists of a 13 Vhavingpr. carryinga head '14 v'vhich'isv provided with a. plurality? of pins thereon. if.;

My4 proved projectileiis shown at 15 and consists-preferably o a spherical ball having depending flanges 16 forming a ref Patented sept.' 12, 191e.

cess 17 therebetween. The ball may i be?, either-solid, a shrapnel, grenade, bomb orv the like.

The upperend of the sta' 4 is` adapted to neatly fit into thev recess 17 Aand' the anges 16 to encircle the end of the staff as shown 4in Fig. 2. Between the end of the stad and the ball 15 is a disk 18 of high ear- .y

plosive such as fulminate.

jury thereto by the explosion vof the disk 18.

A shield 19 may.'

be added for the projectile 15 to prevent in-' I 20 indicates a small pendulum or indio'perate with the scale 21 marked in yards.

.cator pivoted to thestaiii adapted to co- The iiring element 10 .when in withdrawn position is firmly seated upon the gas tight seat 22 formed therefor in the staff and in which position the pins of the element are just Hush with the end of the staii' or just enough therebelow not to render loading the gun dangerous. f

ln operation the stad is driven into the ground at the angle ordered. If the range l is 200v yards, the'soldier will hold the stad atan angle such that the pointerl 20 points to 200 marked on the scale 21. The driving then takes place until the engagement of the collar 7 with the ground prevents any further driving. The collar 7 being pivoted will readily adapt itself to whatever angle the staf't1 may be to the ground. The firing element is locked in withdrawn position against its seat and then the projectile is fitted over the end of the sta-if 4 as shown in the drawings, the explosive disk first being placed on the end of the stati. To more thoroughly protect the disk from accidental discharge it may be inclosed in paper or a punctural metallic casing of some kind.

Then when it is desired to fire the projectile,

it is only necessary to release vthe trigger mechanism whereupon the ring element is forced upwardly by means of the spring pressure and the plurality of pins on the -iring elements make explosion of the disk most positive. 'The explosion takes place,

V as can be understood, at the very end and outside ofthe staff which vgives the explsive ther test possible surface to act upon. j

The' depending anges of the projectile in 1 itting'over thejend of the staffV serve as the guidingzmeans for the projectileA and also E;'seryetoljconnejthe lateral pressn're of the 'f eXplo'sio'n which,however, is not cause of the principle outlined herembefore.

eatv be- With the flanges of the shell withstanding los..

the lateral pressure .instead of the inn or staf, the staff can be made decidedly 'ghterand therefore more readily ortable bythe soldier which is the object esired.

What I 4claim is:

1. In combination a rigid explosive disk and a. staff gun including a iring element and a. support for said disk encircling said element' whereby said disk is supporteddirectly adjacent to said element.

2. In combination, a staiiI gun comprising a staif havingV a chamber therein, a ring mechanism located in said chamber, and an explosive disk directly closing said chamber.

3. In combination, a staff gun comprising a staff having a chamber therein, a. firing mechanism located in said chamber, and a.

"gid expisive-aisk directly closingsaidj `chamber.

4. -In a. staff gun, an annular end explo- 20 'sive support, a firing element encircled lby said 'support,'and a gas tight seat for said element.

5; n a staff gun',van annular end explosive support, a. firing element encircled by said 25 support, and a 'complementary conical seat for said firing element.

'6. In combination, a rigid e losive disk, a staf gun including a support or said disk 'and a reciprocating iirlng element, and 30 means-for inalntaining said disk directlyon its support against the action of the firing l element. v

CYRUS F. WICKER. 

